Real Food Challenge

Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, MA has signed the Real Food Challenge. This has made UMass the largest university in America (serving about 45,000 meals per day) to sign the agreement committing the institution to assuring that 20% of the universities’ food purchases come from socially responsible farms and food businesses–what they call ‘real food.’

The Challenge was introduced to UMass in January 2012 with a presentation by the Real Food Challenge regional team to the Sustainable Living class at UMass. Following this presentation a small group of students began to meet with university faculty and the Chancellor’s Sustainability Committee to begin to explore the possibility of making this commitment. After dedicated planning and discussion on the part of students and staff the University agreed to accept the challenge for UMass Amherst.